The Razer Kishi released a few months ago, offering a controller for your mobile phone that takes more than a little design inspiration from the Nintendo Switch. That's not a bad thing, necessarily, since that form factor has turned out to be one of the best for portability without too many sacrifices.
To take things a step further, Razer teamed up with Microsoft to design an Xbox-branded version of the Kishi controller. It's fairly similar, although it does have some Xbox-specific button layouts and features and as of right now is only designed for Android phones. We're taking one for a spin to see if it's worth the relatively steep asking price.
Design
The basic idea of the Razer Kishi is it allows your phone to be your game screen and puts the controls on the left and right side where your hands would normally be while you're playing in landscape. It pretty much nails this.
While it manages to stay pretty small in your pocket, it “unfolds” with a clasp on the back. Your phone fits right in the middle of the controller, which stretches a bit to accommodate most phones that have USB-C ports centered on the bottom. Obviously, some bigger phones might struggle to fit here, but I was able to successfully put a OnePlus 8 Pro in it. I don't think you'll have any luck with any phones bigger than that, so beware of something like the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. Bulky cases could introduce complications, too.
Once your phone is inside, you get a full array of console controller buttons and analog sticks. On the left side is a pretty decent if slightly mushy d-pad, a view button, and an Xbox Nexus button. There's an analog stick that does click in as an L3 button, plus a left trigger and bumper button. The ride side of the controller houses the other side of an Xbox controller, including a Menu button, ABXY buttons, and the mirrors stickers, bumpers, and triggers. On the bottom of this side is where you'll find a passthrough USB-C charging port.
It's not a perfect design, however, and you'll quickly notice a couple of drawbacks. There's no headphone jack, something that even the Moto Mod Gamepad offers, and all of the buttons do definitely feel a bit cheaper than what you'd find on a real Xbox controller. They're perfectly functional and work well, but at $100 I think I expected something a little more premium. But the layout is good, and it should be plenty for just about any game.
Xbox Game Pass
The selling point of this specific version of the controller is to tie into Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass subscription. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will be able to officially begin streaming games to their smartphone from the large Game Pass library in September, and they want you to use a controller like this to do it.
Does that work well, though?
Yes. Yes, it does.
If you've been investing in Microsoft's gaming ambitions, you might have already tested out the streaming service in beta. It's capped at 720p and doesn't have the full library available, but it works, and the Kishi elevates that experience to the next level. You quickly hop into a game and it's immediately recognized by the controller, which means you can play through rounds of Halo or grind out Destiny 2 bounties on the go, almost like a portable Xbox in your pocket. The controller also works well to navigate the app itself, limiting how often you'll have to touch the screen to get around the interface.
This isn't a review of Game Pass, so I won't dwell too long on that, but at this point, it's hard not to see that as a major potential future aspect of mobile gaming. Obviously Gears 5 is a much bigger experience than just about anything you'll be able to have natively on a phone, and mingling Microsoft's subscription with controllers like this is extremely exciting for someone looking to combine home gaming with portability. We're not 100% of the way there yet, but I'd say setups like this are about 90% of the way there and improving every day.
The drawback comes back around to the controller's quality, though. I played through some single-player experiences, but multiplayer was tougher just because the controller isn't quite as good as a regular Xbox controller. Casually I think you'll be fine, but anyone that's trying to competitively play ranked matches in their favorite game probably won't love it. I'm much more of the former player than the latter, so I don't mind, but it's something to think about.
Other games
Here's the cool thing, though; you don't necessarily have to play Xbox games just because this is Xbox-branded. It's pretty fully natively recognized by Android as a gamepad, and that includes any game that supports controllers. Interestingly, that also makes this a pretty cool accessory for Google Play Pass.
Some notable titles, like Stardew Valley, are just much better with a controller, and this is an easy way to achieve that. Racing games, shooters, and tons of other games fall right in that category, too, so anyone that's primarily a mobile game should give this a serious look as well.
And, yep, you can probably guess what else works well for this. Emulators are not designed to work well on touchscreens, and the Kishi controller saves the day effortlessly.
Things like RetroArch can be easily mapped with this controller, and the Nintendo Switch-like design makes it nearly perfect for some old retro titles. You'll have to deal with the Xbox layout instead of the Nintendo ABXY configuration, and some purists would probably prefer the analog stick below the d-pad (and for a clickier d-pad at that) but it's miles better than playing with virtual buttons on your screen.
It doesn't seem to affect battery life too much, but I won't say it doesn't decrease it at all. You'll notice a slightly quicker drain than you normally would, but that's a solid tradeoff for how well this works.
Worth it?
It's hard to say no. If you're a gaming enthusiast, someone looking to make your mobile games a little bit better, or a big fan of emulation, the Razer Kishi scratches a ton of itches, and the Xbox integration makes it that much better. But man, Razer is really proud of this thing.
At $99 it's expensive. You're paying almost entirely for the form factor here since you can get a regular Xbox controller and a smartphone clip for less than what the Razer Kishi costs. Of course, that controller and clip are nowhere near as portable, and that's the magic of this device. It's small enough to keep in your pocket or bag, to take out and put away only when you need it, and there's no configuration or fiddling to deal with since it's a direct connection via USB-C. Can't say that for most gamepads.
For the market that Razer is targeting this at, $99 honestly probably isn't too much. If you're already heavily investing in your gaming setup this is just another bullet point on the list of rig upgrades you want, but someone that's a little more casual might look elsewhere.
Buy it now: Razer
